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May News Updates

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Here are my news updates for the month of May.  To receive all the latest payroll news right to your inbox subscribe to Payroll 24/7 for only $149 per year.

 

May 27:  Office of Child Support Enforcement: The OCSE has added an interactive map for new hiring reporting on a new webpage.  The user may click on any state and be directed to the new hire reporting website.

May 24: Colorado: The Department of Labor and Employment (DLE) has issued guidance regarding its new state-run Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program.

May 18: Milpitas, CA: The city will increase its minimum wage to $16.40 per hour effective July 1, 2022

May 5:  New York: The New York City Council has pushed back implementation of the salary transparency law from May 15, 2022, to November 1, 2022.

 

Daily News Updates for April

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Here are our news updates for April.  I post one news item per update to our subscribers here on the blog. To receive all of the day’s payroll news updates, subscribe to Payroll 24/7 for only $149 per year.

 

 

 

April 29, 2022: The IRS has issued the following in draft form:

April 20, 2022:  The IRS has released the draft of the Form 941 for the second quarter of 2022. Major changes include marking most COVID19 related lines as “reserved for future use”. The forms 941-SS and 941 PR have also been released draft

April 5, 2022: The Office of Child Support Enforcement has created the electronic version of the National Medical Support Notice.  Known as e-NMSN it is modeled after the highly successful e-IWO process.  Information on this new system can be found on the OCSE website.  Currently Virginia is the only state using this new system.

 

Daily News Updates for March

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Here are our news updates for March.  I post one news item per update to our subscribers here on the blog. To receive all of the day’s payroll news updates, subscribe to Payroll 24/7 for only $149 per year.

 

 

 

March 29: Utah has passed a law (SB 39) that amends how nonresidents working in Utah are taxed. The “mobile workforce” income tax bill addresses the tax liability and withholding requirements for a nonresident individual earning wages in the state. This bill creates an exemption from income tax if a nonresident individual works in the state for 20 or fewer days during a taxable year and provides the circumstances that the individual’s resident state provides a substantially similar exclusion or does not impose a state individual income tax.

March 25:  Two California cities have minimum wage increases coming in July:

  • Emeryville, California: The city’s minimum wage rate will increase to $17.68 per hour effective July 1, 2022.
  • Pasadena, California: The minimum wage rate for Pasadena will increase to $16.11 per hour on July 1, 2022.

March 9:  The Department of Transportation has released the applicable terminal charge and the Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) mileage rates for determining the value of noncommercial flights on employer-provided aircraft in effect for the first half of 2022 for purposes of the taxation of fringe benefits. The unadjusted rates for flights taken during the period from January 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022are as follows:

  • $.2460 per mile for the first 500 miles
  • $.1876 per mile 501 through 1,500 miles
  • $.1803 per mile over 1,500 miles
  • terminal charge is $44.98

Tip Work Yes or No?

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On October 28, 2021, the U.S Department of Labor announced publication of the Tips Dual Jobs final rule that sets reasonable limits on the amount time an employer can take a tip credit when a tipped worker isn’t doing tip producing work. It clarifies that an employer may take a tip credit only when an employee is performing work that is part of a tipped occupation, specifically; performing work that is tip producing or performing work that directly supports work that is tip producing for a limited amount of time.

The Final Rule also amends the provisions of the Executive Order 13658 regulations, which address the hourly minimum wage paid by contractors to workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts consistent with the amendments to the dual jobs regulations.

Under the final rule, an employer can take a tip credit only when the worker is performing tip producing work or when:

  • A tipped employee performs work that directly supports tip producing work for less than 20 percent of the hours worked during the employee’s workweek. Therefore, an employer cannot take a tip credit for any of the time that exceeds 20 percent of the workweek. Time for which an employer does not take a tip credit is excluded in calculating the 20 percent tolerance.
  • A tipped employee performs directly supporting work for not more than  30 minutes. Therefore, an employer cannot take a tip credit for any of the time that exceeds 30 minutes.

The final rule becomes effective December 28, 2021.  See the Department of Labor website for more information.

 

YouTube News Alerts for Payroll 24/7

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I want to let all my blog followers know that the Payroll Advisor now has a YouTube channel where I post my breaking news alerts.  These alerts are almost daily and help you keep abreast of the breaking news especially during this hectic time of year-end. If you are a subscriber to my news e-alert, Payroll 24/7 these updates will be already available to you first through that service.  Of course we only cover one news item per day in these news alerts so if you need all the news each day, you may consider subscribing to our news service.  I hope you find these news videos helpful and informative. If you do I hope you will hit the subscribe button to ensure you receive all future videos.

In the near future I will be adding other videos on various topics for subscribers to my YouTube channel.  These will include brief instructional videos on various payroll related topics.  So please check out our channel and hit the like and subscribe button.

IRS Advises Taxpayers to Take a Fresh Look as 2021 Year-End Nears

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The Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers that the last quarter of 2021 is a good time to check withholding. Life brings constant changes to individual financial situations. Events like marriage, divorce, a new child or home purchase can all be reasons to adjust withholding. The convenient Tax Withholding Estimator, also available in Spanish, will help taxpayers determine if they have too much withheld and how to make an adjustment to put more cash into their own pocket now. In other cases, it will help taxpayers see that they should withhold more or make an estimated tax payment to avoid a tax bill when they file their tax return next year.

Items that may affect 2021 taxes

Things to consider when adjusting withholding for 2021 are:

  • Coronavirus tax relief – Tax help for taxpayers, businesses, tax-exempt organizations and others – including health plans – affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).
  • Disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes – Special tax law provisions may help taxpayers and businesses recover financially from the impact of a disaster, especially
    when the federal government declares their location to be a major disaster area.
  • Job loss – IRS Publication 4128, Tax Impact of Job Loss (.pdf), explains how this unfortunate circumstance can create new tax issues.
  • Workers moving into the gig economy due to the pandemic – IRS advises people earning income in the gig economy to consider estimated tax payments to avoid a
    balance or penalties when they file.
  • Life changes such as marriage or childbirth – Getting married or having a child are just a couple of life events that can affect your refund or how much you owe.

Pay as you go
Taxes are generally paid throughout the year whether from salary withholding, quarterly estimated tax payments or a combination of both. About 70% of taxpayers, however, over
withhold their taxes every year, which typically results in a refund. The average refund in 2021 was more than $2,700. Taxpayers can pay online, by phone or from the IRS2Go app. They can schedule payments for future dates, which can be useful during filing season, for payment plan payments or for estimated tax payments.

Taxpayers can also log into their IRS.gov/account to view the amount they owe, their payment plan details and options, their payment history (up to 5 years), any scheduled or pending
payments, and key tax return information from their most recent tax return.

Tax Withholding Estimator
The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator makes it easier for everyone to have the right amount of tax withheld. This is especially important for anyone who faced an unexpected tax bill or a penalty
when they filed this year, or whose jobs or tax circumstances have changed during the year. The tool offers workers, as well as retirees, self-employed individuals and other taxpayers, a
user-friendly, step-by-step tool for effectively tailoring the amount of income tax they have withheld from wages and pension payments. For more information about taxes, estimated taxes and tax withholding, see Tax Withholding at IRS.gov.

Rescission of Joint Employer Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act Rule Is Now Effective…Tomorrow

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The U.S. Department of Labor announced, on September 20, 2021, the extension of the effective date of a final rule to rescind an earlier rule, “Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” that took effect in March 2020. The original Sept. 28, 2021, effective date of the rescission is now Oct. 5, 2021.

On March 12, 2021, the department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to rescind the March 2020 Joint Employer Rule. After reviewing the comments submitted in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the department decided to finalize the rescission of the rule. The department believes that the rule narrowed the test for vertical joint employment improperly and conflicted with decades of department interpretation, the text of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and congressional intent.

The rescission will result in the removal and reserving of part 791 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations in its entirety. The department will continue to consider legal and policy issues relating to FLSA joint employment before determining whether alternative regulatory or sub-regulatory guidance is appropriate.

The FLSA requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for every hour they work and overtime compensation at not less than one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for every hour they work over 40 in a workweek. A strong joint employer standard is critical because FLSA responsibilities and liability for worker protections do not apply to a business that is not the employee’s employer.

 

Taking Employees Tips? Not So Fast Says the DOL!

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The U.S. Department of labor has announced a final rule that restores the department’s ability to assess civil money penalties against employers who take tips earned by their employees. The rules apply regardless if the violations are willful or not.  The ruling also clarifies specific occasion when a manager or a supervisor can keep tips.  The news release, issued on September 23, 2021 is as follows:

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that restores the department’s ability to assess civil money penalties against employers who take tips earned by their employees, regardless of whether those violations are repeated or willful. In addition, today’s rule modifies the department’s broader civil money penalties regulations addressing when a violation is willful, further aligning these regulations with applicable precedent and how the department litigates willfulness. The rule also allows managers and supervisors to contribute to valid tip pooling arrangements, without receiving tips from those pools.

“Workers who depend on tipped wages are every bit as entitled to expect to keep what they’ve earned as other workers,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “An employer who withholds workers’ tips in violation of the law deprives them of that security and, in some cases, leads to workers earning less than the federal minimum wage. This final rule helps us protect their earnings by strengthening tools to hold employers legally responsible for those violations.”

With this rule’s publication, the department withdraws the civil money penalties’ provisions in the 2020 Tip final rule that would have allowed the department to assess these penalties for violations only when employers kept employees’ tips and the department found their violations to be repeated or willful. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 allows the department to impose civil money penalties to $1,100 when employers keep employees’ tips – in violation of the law – regardless of whether violations are repeated or willful.

The final rule also clarifies that – while managers and supervisors may not receive tips from mandatory tip pools or tip-sharing arrangements – managers or supervisors may contribute to mandatory tip pools or sharing arrangements. In addition, the rule clarifies that a manager or supervisor may keep tips only when the manager or supervisor receives tips from customers directly for service a manager or supervisor directly and “solely” provides.

“The final rule announced today strengthens protections for tipped workers – who are largely women, immigrants and people of color – and advances equity in the workplace,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting Administrator Jessica Looman. “Civil money penalties are an incentive for employers to comply with their legal responsibilities. When they do comply, essential workers benefit. When employers don’t comply, these penalties are a useful enforcement tool we can use to help achieve compliance.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers with tipped workers to pay as little as $2.13 per hour in direct wages, while taking a credit against the tips earned by the employee to make up the balance of the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

 

What’s The IRS Been Up to During the Pandemic? Let The Commissioner Fill You In

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Chuck Rettig is the 49th Commissioner of the IRS. As Commissioner, Rettig presides over the nation’s tax system, which collects more than $3.5 trillion in tax revenue each year. This revenue funds most government operations and public services. He manages an agency of about 80,000 employees and a budget of approximately $11 billion. In a recent post to the ” A Closer Look” page on the IRS website,  Mr. Rettig gave an upfront and closer look to the work the IRS has been doing during the pandemic.  He discusses in his post how pandemic-related issues are still causing the IRS to experience record levels of activity and despite all that, the agency is making progress and is serving taxpayers.  Here is the text of his September 14, 2021 column:

The IRS plays an important role in serving our country. We interact with more Americans than any other U.S. government agency – virtually every individual and business in the country. We process 96 percent of the funding for our nation’s vital programs, but our agency and our people have had to really step up in the past year and a half to provide even more support to Americans in need. And just like businesses and other agencies around the country, we had to pause or modify some operations during the pandemic until we had safe and secure remote options in place to enable our employees to perform their work and serve taxpayers. I am extremely proud of the dedication of our workforce toward helping American taxpayers fulfill their tax responsibilities and resolve tax issues while they dealt with the COVID-19 situation.

While we had to temporarily scale back operations, important economic relief measures passed by Congress during the pandemic gave us many new responsibilities, and we have proudly worked to deliver Economic Impact Payments, advance payments of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and many other critical initiatives in 2020 and 2021. We appreciate and understand the frustration caused by the high volume of manually processed returns, the limited information available to taxpayers about the status of the return processing, the refund delays, and the difficulty reaching IRS employees. We also understand that complex tax issues, recent legislation and the pandemic have  record numbers of taxpayers looking for help.

At every turn, our employees have gone above and beyond during the pandemic to keep our operations going, and through it all, we have appreciated the patience and understanding of taxpayers and the tax community. Even so, and despite our best efforts, pandemic-related issues are still causing us to experience record levels of activity that continue to affect operations across the agency, including the processing of tax returns and refunds. To put this in perspective, the IRS has received 199 million phone calls the first six months of this year – five times the normal annual volume – and we have manually reviewed 11 times more tax returns this year (11 million) to correct errors and gather missing information from taxpayers.

I am committed to ensuring the IRS will continue to do all we can to serve taxpayers. During the pandemic, we have had to find new ways to pursue our mission. As we faced enormous challenges, we didn’t always get it right, but we worked hard, often with limited resources. Where possible, we have redeployed resources to accommodate the increased demand. Our goal is to provide the quality of assistance taxpayers deserve, but we have been unable to satisfy this goal despite recent efforts to overcome significant challenges. On behalf of the entire IRS workforce, I want to assure you we will continue making progress, working together with Congress, the Administration and our partners inside and outside the tax community.

We know this has been and continues to be a frustrating time for many taxpayers and tax professionals – and it’s been a challenging time for all of us at the IRS as well. We have done the best we could under the circumstances, and we will continue to do our best as we face the current challenges. Our response to the unprecedented COVID challenges – including issuing almost $1.5 trillion in combined historic economic relief and individual refunds – illustrates the importance of every American to the IRS and the importance of the IRS to every American. I want to give you a glimpse of what we’re facing inside the IRS, and what we’re doing – to help struggling taxpayers and to get caught up during this unprecedented time.

 

APA Recommends Simplified Version of Form W-4

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The American Payroll Association has sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recommending that the IRS create a new and separate W-4 form for employees who have a single job and no dependents.  The form, Form W-4SN, Employee’s Withholding Certificate — Single Job, No Dependents, would be used by employees whose situation would allow them simply to complete Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, Steps 1, 4(c), and 5.

As most payroll professionals know, employees continue to struggle with completing the Form W-4 in its current form.  They find it difficult to understand the instructions and many times complete the form in error or in a manner that makes it invalid and cannot be processed by payroll. The APA believes that a simplified version using Steps 1, 4(c), and 5 can be implemented effectively for improved accuracy and without creating confusion for employees.

The APA worked with the IRS during the initial stakeholder engagement for the 2020 Form W-4 and a simplified version of the form was discussed back then. However, it was rejected because of the complications of programming and tracking. The new recommended form maintains the same lines and boxes as found on the current Form W-4. This eliminates the original issues with programming and tracking.

The APA attached a sample of the form W-4SN to help explain its recommendations.

The APA is recommending a six-month effective date to allow for payroll software adjustments, payroll training, and employee awareness.

What do you think?  Let us know your opinion of the recommended form in the comments section.

About the APA: Established in 1982, APA is a not-for-profit association serving the interests of more than 20,000 payroll professionals nationwide. APA’s primary mission is to educate its members and the payroll industry about best practices associated with paying America’s workers while complying with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. APA members are directly responsible for calculating wages and employment taxes for their employers.